Ties
by anglorabbit
Summary: Dr. George Huang is always composed. The SVU team has little to connect them other than their job. What happens when worlds collide and new knowledge is presented to them all?
1. Chapter 1

"Special Victims Unit" Detective Munch answered the phone. "I'm sorry you'll have to speak louder. St. Mark's hospital…female vic…age 17….what was that name?" His expression turned from indifferent distantness to deep concern. "Someone will be over there shortly." He hung up.

"Hey, hold up," he called to Olivia and Elliot.

"What for? We were just heading out of here."  
"Gotta talk to everyone in Cragen's office. Fin, you too."

The four of them filed into Captain Cragen's office. Munch closed the door behind them.

"What's this all about?" the captain asked rather gruffly. While most of them shrugged, John answered.

"I just got a call from St. Mark's… 17 yr old female rape victim."

"Okay….so who's catching? Get over there and get a statement." Cragen replied, annoyed.

"It's Gina Huang."

The room went cold. Each of the members of the unit had a connection to this victim. Cragen had been taken to AA meetings by her when things had gotten especially rough. She'd babysat Elliot's kids, and been a friend to Olivia when she needed to unwind and just have fun. Back when Fin was in narcotics, she had been an informant for him, saving him from a drug-lord's vengeance by refusing to give up his name while he was undercover. She'd even befriended Munch, often engaging in conspiracy banters and comparisons of theories…she was one of the few people under the age of 21 that John didn't find annoying. The odd thing was that though she knew much about all of them, they didn't know much about her personally.

"We're pretty slow here, right?" Cragen asked…everybody nodded in agreement. "We'll all go over."


	2. Chapter 2

When they got to the hospital around 12 a.m., they found a surprising site. George Huang was dressed in pajama pants, sweat shirt, and running shoes. His hair, normal neatly combed, was mused. He was frantically pacing the waiting room area.

"Doc? What's goin' on, what's wrong?" Elliot asked quickly.

Huang glanced up, startled. "My daughter."

The entire group looked at him in utter shock.  
"You have a daughter? Since when?" Fin stated the group's obvious question.

"Since 7 years ago. I adopted her when she was ten." He spoke quickly, nervously. "What?" he snapped. "It's not like I know everything about all of you." This disheveled appearance and nervous behavior unnerved the entire unit.

John was the first to put the pieces together. "Gina? Gina Huang is your daughter?" While her last name was, in fact, Huang, the same as Dr. Huang's, they some how never considered the girl could have been related to him, mainly based on the fact that she was not Oriental.

"Yes. You got the call, obviously."

"Well yea, but we all know her personally…. we're all friends, sort of."

"I know."

The befuddlement on their faces was completely readable. Huang didn't pay attention. Olivia tried hard to pull everyone back from their shock. "So how is she?"

"In surgery. They said she has internal bleeding, 4 broken ribs, possibly some trauma to the head, and other minor cuts and bruises. Apparently she was just conscious enough to call 911 from a pay phone and tell the paramedics she was…" there was a catch in Huang's voice. He'd dealt with plenty of rape victims before, but this was so different. This was personal. This was his daughter.


	3. Chapter 3

The group waited with Huang for news about Gina. Olivia had tried to get Huang to sit down, but to no avail. Cragen and Munch had gone to get coffee for everyone, decaf for Huang. Elliot stood in a corner of the room, brooding. This case hit too close to home. Not only was he a friend of the victim, the victim was the daughter of one of his colleagues. Two distinct thoughts ran through his brain: one being that it could have been his own daughter, the other, somewhat selfishly, being that he was glad it wasn't one of his own children. However, Olivia, having intense maternal intuition simply glanced at him, both making sure he was alright, and berating him for focusing on what wasn't instead of what was. He nodded in response and began to help in her attempt to get George to calm down a little.

"Hey D…. George," he began, "Olivia's right. Your trying to make a ditch in the floor isn't going to help anything. Why don't you sit down and wait?"

"Would you!" he snapped back.

Elliot's face hardened, causing Fin to jump up between the two. Seeing that Cragen and Munch had returned, Fin suggested that he and Elliot take a walk, mostly just to calm him down.

"What was that about?" Cragen whispered to Olivia. She quickly explained.

Down the hall, Fin was in the middle of chewing out Stabler.

"What were thinking, man? This isn't about you. It's just another case."

"Oh right, just another case. Tell me you aren't scared for her. As I remember it, she was the one that stuck her neck out for you and saved yours."

"There you go again makin' everything personal. Yea, I'm scared for her. EVERYONE is. But Huang is even more. She's his daughter. HIS daughter… not yours. Your kids are safe at home in their beds sleeping. How many times has he been there for us, even though we all hated him for it at the time?"

Elliot started to respond, but stopped. Fin was right and he knew it.

"Alright."  
"So you're good?"

"Yea, I'm good. Let's get back there."

They returned just as a doctor was approaching the waiting room.


	4. Chapter 4

"How is she?" Huang demanded before the doctor could introduce himself.

"Dr. Huang? I'm Dr. Har…"

"Yes I'm Huang. How is my daughter?"

The doctor looked just as surprised as the SVU team had been when they first saw Huang in the waiting room.

"We were able to stop the bleeding and patch up her other injuries. She had to be given a transfusion but she's stable now. The rape kit came back positive for sperm from 5 different attackers."

The unit winced. Huang shook with clenched fists, biting his lip, trying to keep back tears.

"Can I see her?"

"She hasn't come out from the anesthetic yet, but yes. Right this way."

Huang followed on the heels of the doctor to a room. The doctor left him alone with the girl. He went over to her bed and sat down on the side of it, taking hold of her hand.

"Gina? Gina, can you hear me?"

A slight squeeze was felt on his hand. Gina's not-blacked eye opened. Not knowing where she was, she began to panic and tried to get up.

"Shh, shh, it's alright, it's me." He started to keep her from getting up, only to be back-handed in the process.

"Gina, it's Dad! I'm not going to hurt you. You're in a hospital, you're safe." He backed off, holding her hand and arm only, not being able to control tears from flowing.

"Dad?" she began to cry as well. "Dad, I'm so sorry."

"No, no, you have nothing to be sorry about. This wasn't your fault. You didn't do anything wrong." He moved back to sitting on the bed, holding his shaking daughter tightly in his arms.

A while later, a quiet knock was heard at the door. There was no response from inside the room. Another knock.

"Who is it?" Huang called, a hint of defensiveness in his voice.

"Don. Can I come in?"

Gina nodded, pulling the covers up to her neck. Huang stayed seated on the bed, a hand on her shoulder. "Come in."

Don Cragen walked into the room carrying flowers. He set them down, softly smiling at Gina.

"Hi Gina, how're you feeling?"

Gina stared at him. "How am I supposed to feel?"

Don looked hurt, but understood.

"Sorry Don. I just… I don't…" Gina fought back tears.

"It's ok."  
"NO it's NOT!" Gina and Huang both shouted. There was uncomfortable silence. Huang sighed.

"I'm sorry Captain. We're just…"  
"You don't need to explain. If either of you need anything, let me know. Gina, I know this must be awkward, but I thought I'd at least give you a choice of who would handle your case."

After thinking for a short bit, Gina answered.


	5. Chapter 5

Her answer came in a straightforward tone. "Detectives Munch and Tutuola. Stabler's already too involved."

Cragen looked at her quizzically, wondering how she knew about the earlier confrontation between Stabler and Huang. He shrugged it off, and nodded.

"If there's anything I can do…"  
"I know."

" Munch and Fin will be in shortly."

Cragen left the room, leaving Huang and his daughter to sit in silence.

"How did you know about Stabler?" Huang asked after a while.

"It's pretty much a given, isn't it? Besides, your lip is swollen."

"Oh," a slight smile flittered onto his face. "That was actually you… got a little scared when you were coming out of the anesthesia and tried to get up. I tried to keep you from hurting yourself and you slapped me."  
"Sorry"

"You were scared, don't worry about it."  
"Who said I WAS scared?" Gina answered quietly.

Huang quickly hugged her firmly but lightly as to not hurt her. He held her with his hand in her hair and kissed her head. "I know, I know. I am too."

A knock was heard at the door, followed by Munch's voice.  
"Can we come in?"

"Yes." Wong called back.

Munch and Tutuola walked in, both bringing with them flowers. Gina slightly grinned momentarily at the guys's sympathetic, chivalrous attempts, especially from these two. A second later, the smile was gone.

"Hi Gina," Munch greeted.

"Hey Gina, how're you holdin' up?" Tutuola greeted as well.

Gina nodded at both of them. "Can we get this over with?"

They nodded back, glancing at Huang.

"Will you be staying? Munch asked him.

Huang glanced at his daughter. He saw her hesitation. "I'll be right outside the door, okay? Munch and Fin will be right here," he said, somehow not realizing that they had to be there in order for her to give her statement. Gina nodded at him. He gave her a quick kiss on her forehead and left.

Munch and Tutuola sat down next to the bed.  
"So, how does this work?" Gina asked uncomfortably.

"You tell us what happened, include all details you can remember, and we got out and find the bastards that did this to you." Munch replied. Gina took a deep breath, winced at the pain from her broken ribs, and began.


	6. Chapter 6

"I was walking home from the market. I had bought stuff to make Dad a dessert he likes as a surprise… he's been working so hard. Anyway, it wasn't even dark outside, around 4:30 or so. I felt a gun sticking into my back and froze."

"How did you know it was a gun?" Munch asked.

"She used to be my informant… things got out of hand once… still kickin' myself for that." Fin answered for Gina.

"That's over and nothing happened, Odafin. Stop blaming yourself for that." Gina said quietly. Fin smiled. She had always used his full name and though she was much younger than him, always looked out for him however she could.

"So the gun was in my back and a male voice told me to keep walking normally or…"

"Or he'd shoot?"

"No," her voice went cold. "He'd go after…" She started to sob.

"Go after who?"

Gina bit back tears and quickly continued, never answering the question.

"He led me into the back of a long alley. There were trash bins in it that blocked the back from the street. Four other guys were waiting there. The one that forced me into the alley pushed me up against a wall and started to try to undo my jeans. I rammed my head into his face and his nose started bleeding. He yelped and jumped back and I ran. The other four ran to catch me and dragged me back. I kept trying to fight back but they were too strong. They threw me down on the ground, two held me down while the other ripped my pants and shirt off. The first guy was whining about how I broke his nose. Then one of them climbed on top of me, tore my underwear off and… raped me. They got tired of me fighting so they said… and then they each had a turn raping me. The first guy went last, hitting me the whole time. When they all finished, they beat and kicked me, told me not to say anything or they'd… then they ran off and left. I couldn't walk for a while and when I could I had to cling onto the wall until I got out of the alley. Luckily there was a pay phone near by and I called 911 and said I needed help, that I was raped. I didn't know where I was or anything and collapsed in the phone booth. I don't know how they found me, but the paramedics finally got there. I came to in the ambulance, told them I was raped, and passed out again. Next thing I know I was waking up not knowing where I was and Dad was trying to calm me down." She started crying again. Munch and Fin tried to calm her.

"It's okay, hon, it's over now. We'll get these guys. Do you remember anything about the men that attacked you? Height, build, hair color, what they said… especially what they said? What aren't you telling us? Who were they going to go after if you ran or told?" Fin asked.

"No, I don't remember," she answered shortly.

"Yea, you do." Munch said softly but firmly.

"No."

"Take your time."

"No, I can't tell."

"You need to. What did they not want you to tell?"

"No, no! I can't tell!" Gina's voice was getting louder and panicky.

"Gina, it's me, John. You can tell me, it's okay. I, along with your father and everybody in the unit will protect you." John had usually been one of the few people that was able to make her open up and talk. Now, however, he wasn't able to get any information.


	7. Chapter 7

"It's not me! I can't tell! I can't, I can't!" Gina began to yell.

"Gina, calm down, it's okay. Just tell us what happened. Who will they come after? Gina. Gina, it's okay, settle down. Gina!" John and Fin were now standing, trying to get her to stop screaming.

"NO! NO I CAN'T TELL! NO!"

"Fin, get Huang in here, fast!" John yelled over Gina's now frantic, uncontrollable screams. Fin ran to the door and quickly returned, Huang almost tripping over Fin to get to Gina.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Huang roared at the detectives, not pausing to wait for an answer. "Gina! Gina, it's okay, stop yelling and calm down." He tried to speak sternly but calmly. Gina continued to scream, seemingly unaware of her father's, or anyone's, presence.  
"DON'T LET THEM COME! I CAN'T TELL! NO! NO! NO!" Her screams eventually became uninterruptible. Before anyone could stop her, she jumped up and fell out of the bed, trying to get away.

"HELP!" Huang cried as he tried to catch his daughter. "Fin, get my bag over by the wall!" Fin jumped to get it and brought it to him. "John, hold her steady." John bent down and did as directed, while Huang quickly fished around in his bag. He pulled out a syringe and injected Gina with it. Within seconds she stopped thrashing and screaming and was unconscious.

As Huang was putting Gina back into the bed, a doctor and nurse, along with Captain Cragen, Detectives Benson and Stabler ran into the room. They took one look at Munch and Fin, visibly shaken, and Huang, settling Gina in the bed.

"What the hell happened here? We heard screaming down the hall. Why is she unconscious?" asked Cragen.

As the doctor was checking on Gina, Munch tried to explain, "She was giving Fin and I her statement, but kept leaving out something that the perps said that threatened her… or maybe not her. She just kept saying that she couldn't tell, that 'they', the perps, would go after someone. I thought she was scared about them coming back for her but it seemed like there was somebody else she was scared for because she said it wasn't her. Didn't make much sense. Eventually, she just kept screaming no, no and we couldn't control her. She even managed to jump out of bed. Huang injected her with something and she went unconscious."

"It was a sedative. We won't know anything more from her for about an hour. She must have been triggered by something that made her be pushed past her breaking point." Huang said, somewhat more focused.

"George, I'm sorry, I was just trying to…" John started.

"Yea Doc, we were just trying to figure out what she was hiding that was scaring her so much." Fin added.

"You were doing your job. I should have been in here."  
"You couldn't have known that would happen," Olivia offered. "You're not just a psychiatrist this time."

"I should have been more together."

"Enough." Elliot finally spoke, "George, it's gonna be alright. You've been handling this a lot better than I would have."

"Can you answer some questions for us?" Fin asked George slowly.

"Yes, let me just see how Gina is really quick."  
"How is she doing?" he asked the doctor before going into the hallway to answer John and Fin's questions.

"She seems alright, but I'd like to run some more x-rays to make sure no further damage was done to her ribcage."

He agreed and followed John and Fin out into the hall.

"Ready?" John asked.

"I'm supposed to be on the that side." George muttered.

"I know. Just a few questions. Gina said she was walking home from shopping at a market. Do you know what that would have been?"

"World's Corner, on fifth the corner of fifth and twenty-second. She loves that place. It's a specialty grocery."

"Does she have a boyfriend?"

"No, she said she wanted to do her own thing before being saddled to one person."

"I always knew she was smart." John commented. "Anyway, do you know of anyone who would want to hurt her?"  
"No, no one. Everybody likes her, you know that. Those that don't like her at least don't bother her. Not that I know of, at least."

"Are the two of you especially close?"

"Yes. How do you think I know about how she's friends with all of you?"

"How did we NOT know you had adopted the same girl that we all know and like."

"Guess it never came up."  
"Elliot always talks about his kids."

"That's him. Everybody's different."

"Obviously. Alright, I'll send Elliot and Olivia to the market to talk to however might have saw her. Maybe they'll know something. While they do that, Fin and I will wait here for when she wakes up. Meanwhile, you should try to get some rest. For her, at least."

George nodded and returned to Gina's room. An orderly wheeled her bed back into her room, followed by the doctor.

"So?"


	8. Chapter 8

"It's a good thing you sedated her when you did. A few more hits and we could be looking at a punctured lung," the doctor reported.

Huang drew a nervous breath, nodding.

"Just keep her from any strenuous movement and she should be fine." The doctor left.

Huang sat down into a chair facing the bed. He stared at his daughter for a while; worrying about her, wonder what could have tipped her over the edge. She was strong, and while rape was a traumatic event, it seemed as though she wasn't as concerned with her own safety. But if not hers, whose? His thoughts drifted off, recalling his behavior throughout this night. He shook his head, now realizing the unit probably thought he'd lost it. But he wasn't just a shrink, he was a father too… her father. He wondered how he would get her to talk. The thought that another psychiatrist might be brought in fluttered through his mind, quickly to leave. Everyone was involved personally in this… it was a family matter; no one else would be brought in. He put his arm and head down on the bed, being able to be aware of when she woke up. Giving into heavy eyelids, he closed his eyes, half sleeping, half awake, waiting.

Detectives Benson and Stabler made their way to the market Gina had told Munch and Fin about. They walked in and were greeted promptly by an elderly couple.

"May we help you?" the said sweetly.

"We're detectives Benson and Stabler. We're trying to find out some information about Gina Huang, do you know her?" Benson answered.

"Gina! Oh, such a nice girl, very polite. What do you want to know?"  
"She was in here yesterday, correct?"  
They nodded.

"Was there anyone watching or following her? Paying too much attention to her?"

They thought for a minute, "No…no, no one was in here but Gina and us. We were going to close early but saw her coming and stayed open for her."

Benson sighed, thanked them, and gave them her card, instructing them to call if they thought of anything else.

"We got nothing." Stabler said, frustrated.

"No really? I didn't notice."

"Looks like I'm not the only touchy one."

Olivia shot him a look. "Everybody is 'touchy' this time. And what was with the screaming? She never freaks out like that… just as composed as Huang usually is, if not more so, normally."  
"We both know everyone reacts differently to this kind of thing. Huang though… you have a point. I've never seen him crack like that."

The both of them went back to the hospital in thoughtful silence, empty-handed.

Huang felt a twitch next to his hand. He looked up to see Gina slowly coming to.

"It's okay, Gina," he said soothingly as she woke up, "you're okay, you're alright. You're still in the hospital. I'm right here." She was awake now, but groggy. Huang kept speaking softly to her, making sure she stayed calm. "How are you feeling?"

Gina grimaced, "Sore. What happened?"

Huang started slowly. "You were giving John your statement." He paused. Gina had no reaction. He continued. "You did a good job. It seemed like you we leaving something out. You got pretty upset when John tried to made you tell him what it was." He searched her face for something, some trace of tension, stress, something. He finally saw something. Fear. "Gina," he started wearily, "you don't have to be scared."

She spoke slowly, quietly. "I…. I can't tell."

"But you can. It's okay, they can't hurt you anymore."

"You don't get it, it's not me. If I tell, others will get hurt. I can't have that happening."

Huang sighed, frustrated. Sensing this, Gina continued.

"Look, they have made cases with less."  
"Yes, but…"

"Dad, I can't."

Huang looked defeated, but saw he could get nothing more out of her.

"When can I go home?" she asked after a while.

"I'll find out. Whatever the case is, you have to rest." He said in a fatherly manner as he left the room to find out.

Munch, Fin, and Cragen were waiting in the hall.

"What did you find out?"

"Nothing."  
"What? You? Nothing?" asked Fin.

"Yes, me." Huang replied annoyed. "She's protecting someone else, not herself. There's no way you're going to get any more information than what you already have."

"Well then we have nothing."  
"Don't you think I know that!" he yelled back. His shoulders fell into a slump and he ran his hand over his face, exhausted.

"Alright," Cragen started, "at least we got an idea of where it happened. We'll just have to work with what we have. You find out what Benson and Stabler found out and see if you can't find the crime seen. George? Are you going to be alright?"

He looked up at Cragen, expressionless. "I have to find out when I can take her home," he said and went to find the doctor. Fin decided to sit with Gina while Huang was away.

"Hey Gina," Fin said as he closed the door behind him.


	9. Chapter 9

Gina turned to look at Fin.

"How're you doin'?" he continued.

"I didn't expect you to try and get me to talk." Gina said, accusingly.

"Who said I was gonna?"  
Gina shot him a look.

Fin chuckled, "Okay, okay, so maybe I was. It would just make it so much easier for us to catch these guys if..."  
"Life isn't easy, get over it"

"So that's it? Don't you want us to make these bastards pay?"

Gina turned away. After a few minutes, she spoke, "Remember back when I was that informant for you?"

"I still can't believe I.."

"That's not the point. Do you remember? What happened?"

"You were an informant…you…"  
"I remember, I asked if you did."

"Yea I remember. But what does that have to do with…?"

She glared.

Fin looked at her, somewhat astonished. A metaphoric light bulb clicked in his mind. He got up, gave her a peck on the cheek, and walked toward the door. He turned back, "You gonna be alright?"

"Odafin, get going. Everybody's waiting on you."

He paused, then swallowed hard and nodded.

"Take care of yourself" he said, and walked out of the room.

As Gina had predicted, everyone, including Huang, was waiting for him outside the door.

"You get anything?" Stabler asked quickly.

"Yea. She didn't tell me anything, but I got it."

"What do you mean by that?" Benson asked him.

"Not here. Let's go back to the station."

They all gave him confused looks, but seeing that he'd say no more, went back the station.

When they got back to the station, Munch was the first to pounce.

"So what did you find out? How come she talked to you and about killed herself when I tried to get her to talk? What…."

"Hey man, calm down. She didn't actually tell me anything… more like a clue. I don't know about the rape, but I know who she's protecting."

"Who?"  
"Us. All of us."


	10. Chapter 10

Munch stepped back and thought, trying not to show his shock. Slowly he nodded, understanding a little.

"But how and why all of us? And are you sure you got your information right?"

"Look, I know, alright?" Fin answered, anxious. "And another thing I know is that there's no way in hell we're gonna get anything out of her unless she's completely certain every one of us, including those connected to us," he paused, eyeing Stabler. "And I think we all know we can't just tell her we're safe, gotta show her."

A collective, frustrated sigh was uttered from the whole group. Huang, who until now had been silent, tried to get more specific answers.

"Ok, so she's protecting us, like Munch said before, how do you know?"

Fin hesitated. "She told me to remember back to when I helping narcotics with a case. She… was an informant for me."

Huang tensed.

"All she did was know some people who were into some stuff. She never did any drugs or anything, don't worry." Fin held his uneasy gaze on Huang, looking desperately for some pardon. Seeing only nervous surprise and worry, he quickly continued. "Anyway, I was undercover for that assignment and somehow it got to where the higher-ups in this drug ring figured they had a rat within their crew, but they weren't sure who it was. They knew Gina was somebody who knew things, so they tried to get her to tell who the leak was. She never talked so my cover wouldn't be blown and so I wouldn't get into any trouble."

Munch began to say something but quickly was shot down by a look from his partner.

"That's how I knew she was protecting someone besides herself. I knew she was protecting everyone because of how she said 'everyone' was waiting, when she didn't really know that everyone happened to be standing outside the door."

"Normally, I'd say you're assuming a bit too much, but in this case and knowing her, I'd say you're right. She knows danger is part of a cop's job, but she still wants to protect us… Elliot, have your family take a vacation out of town, just until the case is over, just to be on the safe side. We don't know how deep this thing goes. Maybe it's just us that's the target, but we have to be careful." Cragen began.

Elliot frowned, nodding in agreement. He got on the phone to tell his family what to do.

The captain continued, "Everybody else, be especially careful. Am I right in thinking that she'll just 'know' that we're watching our backs and then come to us?"

Fin nodded.

"Alright, everyone act as if this case is open but cold. That'll let things cool off and hopefully she should let us know what's going on."

Everyone went to their respective desks; thinking, annoyed they couldn't do more and trying to understand what was going on.

Cragen called Huang into his office, "Are you going to be alright?"

"What type of question is that? My daughter…yea… I'll be alright. It sounds like you'll know something the sooner she feels you're 'safe' or whatever she wants. I just have so many questions but don't want her to snap. I should be able to help her."

"We'll get them, don't worry. Why don't you try to get some sleep here in the crib? It's quiet and better than trying to sleep in a hospital chair. She's just resting there anyway, right?"  
"Yea, they said she could leave tomorrow if she continues to rest at home."  
Cragen smirked, "Like that'll happen. Tell me, how do you keep up with her?"

Huang smiled proudly, "I sometimes wonder how she keeps up with me and these crazy hours. She's very independent. At times I've felt like I'm just giving her a place to stay."

"I'm sure she doesn't think that."

"At least not anymore, I guess. I think I'll take up that offer of some sleep. Thanks."


	11. Chapter 11

"This is crap! How are we supposed to just go about our day normally when we should be chasing a lead?" Detective Benson growled as she threw her pen down on the desk.

"Well for one, we don't have a lead." Munch started answering.

"And I suppose you're fine with just sitting here." Benson shot back.

"What exactly are you implying?"

"That she's annoyed that I've prevented everyone from working on the case," a voice from behind them said. Benson jumped and whirled around to see Gina standing in the doorway.

"Gina! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be..."  
"Cooped up in a bed somewhere? Come on, Olivia, you know I'm restless. 'sides that, I had some checking to do."

"…okay. Well I'm glad to see you're back on your feet."

"Thanks."

Munch remained silent at his desk, avoiding eye contact with Gina.

She walked into Cragen's office, then went into the conference room.

"Munch," Cragen called.

"Yea?"  
"Conference room."  
"Capt, are you sure?"  
"She asked for you."

Munch walked warily into the room where Gina sat waiting for him. He closed the door.


	12. Chapter 12

"Sit down, John, I won't bite" Gina said quietly, trying to lighten the mood. He sat but said nothing.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened, but you should know it's not your fault. I'm not sure why exactly I went so ballistic. I guess for once I let their threats get under my skin…I just want to protect you and everybody. Hello? Anybody in there?"

Munch stayed silent, causing Gina to grow increasingly impatient and annoyed.

"John, you have to say something."

Silence.

"John? John, knock it off."

Still nothing.

Gina hit the table, hard.

"John! Take your shaded glasses off and look at me!"

Surprisingly, he obeyed almost instantly…his eyes glistened.

"John?"

"What, you're the only one who can break?"

"It's not your fault. I'm fine"

"Don't give me that…"  
"John, I'm here, I'm alive. As long as all of you have taken precautionary measures, I'm talking. I know Elliot took care of his kids already, and all of you are working and have details outside your places," Munch shot a surprised look, "yes, you're Big Brother is watching you even more…they'll be gone once this is over, don't worry." Gina gave him a half-smile. He returned it with a smirk.

"So are you going to tell me what's going on or what?" he asked.

Gina nodded, took a deep breath, and began.


	13. Chapter 13

"There were five guys, that part you knew. What you didn't know was that all five of them were former sex offenders, each one of you collared. They all met up in rickers, all hated that they got caught, all hate each of you, so they basically set up a vendetta against the unit. They knew they couldn't get to you individually, so they decided to hit you as a group, and besides that, they aren't big enough to actually take you out on their own." Gina paused, letting Munch take in what she was saying.

"How did they know to go through you?" he asked.

"With Odafin, it was easy. He'd busted one of the guys on possession before his sex charge. The guy was a runner in the case I helped Odafin on, and when it went to trial, he squealed to get off more easily and was able to make the connection between him and me. The others took some research on their part. Olivia and I are friends…a way for her to unwind… they saw us together a couple times, apparently, at a restaurant one of the guys was a busboy. Don and I went to a few get togethers that another of the guys went to also. Elliot…. well he as kids that I've watched…one of those creeps watched when I was watching, which is the main reason I don't want Elliot working on this case…at least not closely."

Munch was quiet. "That's only four."

"You're smart….so was the fifth guy. Did a lot of planning, always trying to figure out how to get to you. Remember that guy you spent 4 hours with in interrogation because he actually gave you some intellectual competition?"  
"I wouldn't say competition…more like somebody to chew up, spit out, and laugh at because they even tried." Munch answered wryly.

Gina smiled, shaking her head. "Anyway, they all got out about a year ago… planned a lot. Problem with that guy was that he got too smart for his own good, started bragging, making me know how all this happened."

"And how they knew you would be the way to get to us?"

"Seeing me work with Odafin… knew I wouldn't rat them out, but it would be just enough to get under your skin… make you squirm. I thought it was all talk at first, the whole bit about coming after each of you, but then they brought out surveillance photos of Elliot's kids, each of your addresses, and the box load of .45s, complete with laser aim and silencers. I know… it's all an occupational hazard, but I couldn't chance it… couldn't be responsible for possibly getting hurt or worse… I can't completely protect you, but at least I know you're a little safer…and the kids are safe."

"Any connection between them and Hua…er…your dad?"

"No, that's just a perk for them, I guess."

After a bit of silence, Munch got up to sit next to Gina. He put his arm around her shoulders. Gina eventually leaned in toward him, letting him fully hug her. There was a silent understanding between the two. He was scared for her, she was scared for everyone, wanting to protect them, but needed to be protected herself. Neither one of them would admit their need. They only sat together, holding each other, trying to make the other believe it was going to be alright.


End file.
